animals Article Rumen Methanogenesis, Rumen Fermentation, and Microbial Community Response to Nitroethane, 2-Nitroethanol, and 2-Nitro-1-Propanol: An In Vitro Study Zhenwei Zhang, Yanlu Wang, Xuemeng Si, Zhijun Cao, Shengli Li and Hongjian Yang * State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China;
[email protected] (Z.Z.);
[email protected] (Y.W.);
[email protected] (X.S.);
[email protected] (Z.C.);
[email protected] (S.L.) * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 7 February 2020; Accepted: 5 March 2020; Published: 13 March 2020 Simple Summary: The present study comparatively investigates the inhibitory difference of nitroethane (NE), 2-nitroethanol (NEOH), and 2-nitro-1-propanol (NPOH) on in vitro rumen fermentation, microbial populations, and coenzyme activities associated with methanogenesis. The results showed that both NE and NEOH were more effective in reducing ruminal methane (CH4) production than NPOH. This work provides evidence that NE, NEOH, and NPOH were able to inhibit methanogen population and dramatically decrease methyl-coenzyme M reductase gene expression and the content of coenzymes F420 and F430 with different magnitudes in order to reduce ruminal CH4 production. Abstract: Nitroethane (NE), 2-nitroethanol (NEOH), and 2-nitro-1-propanol (NPOH) were comparatively examined to determine their inhibitory actions on rumen fermentation and methanogenesis in vitro. Fermentation characteristics, CH4 and total gas production, and coenzyme contents were determined at 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h incubation time, and the populations of ruminal microbiota were analyzed by real-time PCR at 72 h incubation time. The addition of NE, NEOH, and NPOH slowed down in vitro rumen fermentation and reduced the proportion of molar CH4 by 96.7%, 96.7%, and 41.7%, respectively (p < 0.01).